Skin
by chocolate-colombo
Summary: A series of hate crimes in LA leaves everyone frightened. As the members of a certain Neo-Nazi group inch closer and closer to residents of the Palm Woods, Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan have to face something they never dealt with in all their years of friendship.
1. Another One

**So...If I start this story with a short chapter, will you hate me? No? Okay. You guys rock! ^_^**

**When I put up the poll, I had several story ideas rolling in my head, so I narrowed them down to two choices and put them up on a poll. Skin won the poll...honestly...I don't know why of all things to call this story, I called it "Skin", but I say that about a lot of my stories. This story is rated T because of its themes. A lot of mean stuff will be said and there may be some violence. So hope you don't get offended by some racial terms that will be used. I will admit that I was afraid to start this story because I'm afraid of how it'll go, but hopefully it won't turn out too bad. I PRAY!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush...thank you Captain Obvious...  
**

**I really hope you all enjoy this one!**

* * *

"We got a long way to go, we gotta get there quicker" - Long Way to Go by Gwen Stefani Ft. Andre 3000

* * *

Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos excitedly talked about the party they were "invited" to. Jennifer Knight raised the volume of her TV, trying to block out the noise her son and his friends were making as they walked into their Palm Woods apartment.

"Hey Mom," Kendall said. He and the guys had just got back from another day with Gustavo, who informed them of a party Griffin wanted to have. The boys were basically being forced to show up, but for once, they didn't mind. They knew Gustavo would need their help. Kendall stopped his friends from talking when glanced at the TV and raised one of his large eyebrows. "Whatcha watching?" he asked.

Jennifer shook her head in disgust. "Another killing," she responded, her eyes still glued to the TV.

Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos all shared glances with each other before they plopped onto the couch and began watching the news with her.

"Not again," Logan muttered as they watched the report. He still couldn't believe this was happening.

The newscaster's voice filled the living room.

_"Andre Washington was found yesterday night in a dumpster behind his apartment complex. Police investigation has led them to believe that Mr. Washington's death may be connected to the murders that have occurred these past three weeks..."_

Local news had been the same for the past three weeks. Someone's found brutally murdered. Their bodies were usually found in undignified places such as dumpsters and junk yards. One person was found in a sewer. No one thought anything of it until the police noticed a very important detail about the victims: they were all minorities. Four had been black, one Hispanic, and two Middle Easterns. The list could continue at this rate. The police hadn't confirmed that race was an issue, but many people began to speculate.

Were these hates crimes, or were these victims just at the wrong place at the wrong time?

Or was it both?

"Mama Knight," Carlos said in a small voice. "Do you think the police are right? That these are all hate crimes and whoever's doing it...they're just attacking the first minority they can get their hands on?"

Logan, James, and Kendall froze. They hadn't even wanted that question asked, or answered. As much as they wanted to keep ignorant about the whole thing, they knew they couldn't. If Carlos actually felt worried about all of this, then they needed to always be by his side. Who knows what would happen if...They shook the thought out of their heads.

"We can't be sure," Jennifer replied. She saw the worried look on Carlos' face. "Carlos are you...are you scared?"

Carlos shrugged pathetically. "A little." He sighed. "I know the chances of me being the next victim is very slim...but it's still kinda scary just thinking about it."

"And we're gonna make sure you never have to worry about that," James said as he put an arm around his smaller friend. "We're not gonna let anyone hurt you." He sent Carlos a reassuring smile.

"But... but what about everyone else we know...like Stephanie and Kelly and..." Carlos said. Leave it to Carlos to worry about other people's lives even though he knew his safety was at stake just as much as the others' were.

"Nothing's gonna happen to them either," Kendall interrupted, suddenly feeling very protective. He'd die before anything happened to Carlos.

Carlos nodded wordlessly. He was sure the other victims and their families didn't believe that the next victim would be them. But what happened?

Carlos chuckled nervously. "Okay, yeah you guys are right. Maybe I was just overreacting."

Carlos began relaxing. His friends were right. As long as they were all together, he had nothing to fear.

* * *

**And how was that? I hope this chapter made sense XD  
**


	2. All is Well?

**I listen to music...a lot...especially when I write. Anyway, when I listen to a song while writng this story, I'm like "hey, that one line sang right there has a miniscule amount of relevance...somewhere..." Whatever.**

**Anyway, here's another chapter to establish everything going on with everybody...did that sentence make sense?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I could stick around and get along with you"-Hello by Martin Solveig ft Dragonette

* * *

Three days flew by. One more attack. The police had decided and agreed on one thing. These were definitely hate crimes. The crazy thing was, this victim was lucky...if you could call a person who had been mercilessly beaten and stabbed "lucky". The lucky man, Pedro Gonzalez, survived the attack. Everyone agreed that either Pedro was one crazy tough dude, or these attackers were slipping up.

Turns out, it was a mixture of both.

Pedro Gonzalez, 30, not only fought back, but fought back hard. His attackers wore masks, but blood that wasn't his was found in his mouth and under his finger nails. He was lucid enough to call 911 after his attackers ran off.

"That's him?" Detective Valens asked the chief as they stared into the window of the interrogation room a day after Pedro landed in the hospital.

The chief nodded. "That's Matthew Long. Not only does the DNA we found on Gonzalez in the system match Long's, but we also found out that he's part of a popular Neo-Nazi group called the White Soldiers. They use any form of media to spread their propaganda. He has prior convictions of aggravated assault. This guy's dangerous."

"He tells people to hate and attack a person of another race and they just do what he says?" Valens responded. He knew that was very possible, he just couldn't believe why people could be so small minded.

The chief shrugged. "Fact of life, I suppose. Let's face it. We've all done something stupid just because someone told us to." There was silence before the chief started talking again. "Beside, these guys are smart. It's not like they tell a domesticated housewife to kill her Black next door and she does it. They address like-minded people."

Valens nodded in agreement. "Okay," he breathed out. He attempted to hide the smile creeping on his face when he saw the bruises Matthew sported on his face. He also had a broken nose. Valens walked into the interrogation room with a look of disgust on his face. He took a seat, staring Matthew Long straight into the eyes. "You're quite the piece of work, aren't you?" he asked.

Matthew scoffed. "Don't try to flatter me." He crossed his arms.

Valens wanted to smack that smug look off Matthew's face. "Bad mood?" He asked. Matthew didn't respond, so Valens continued. "Well I can see why. Getting beat up by a Mexican. Does that just kill you on the inside?"

That struck a nerve. "He didn't beat me!" Matthew yelled. "He got lucky."

"Luck?" Valens said. It was his turn to scoff. "You attribute your broken nose and beat up face to luck?" There was a silence in the room before Valens continued talking. "Look. I'll get straight to the point. We know you haven't been working alone. You've had at least two more accomplices for each attack. Give us names, and the DA's office will show some leniency."

Matthew shook his head. "You think I'm the type of person that sells out his guys?" He smiled and leaned in closer to Valens. "I'll never give their names up. And as far as any of us is concerned, we're just getting started."

* * *

"So," James began saying as he combed his hair. "You're saying that tonight, Gustavo's gonna trust us, and let us associate ourselves with hot models and singers tonight?" James, of course, was the most excited for a party Gustavo was throwing. It was another one of those parties thrown for the sole purpose of impressing Fujisaki and his associates, but James was still liking the idea of a party, nonetheless. Even if it did mean that he was technically working.

"Don't get any ideas," Logan warned as he adjusted his shirt collar. "Gustavo's giving us this party for our publicity. So don't do anything stupid. Fujisaki and Griffin will be there."

"Is it safe for a man that's like, a hundred years old to be going to parties filled with teenagers?" Carlos asked.

"Okay," Logan responded. "First off, Fujisaki's only ninety five and-"

"You say the word 'only' like he's actually still young," James said. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What's the worst we can do anyway? Remember the time he crashed _our_ party?" James and Carlos high fived. Because Fujisaki loved their party so much, they were able to keep the title of the Super Hollywood Party Kings of Hollywood. "If anything, the things we do keep Fujisaki alive."

"That's totally true!" Carlos agreed with a smile.

James gasped, a sudden thought coming into his head. "Do you think Solana's gonna be there?"

"No James!" all three of his friends replied.

"I heard Kat's Krew's gonna be there," Kendall said, earning groans from his best friends. The fact that Gustavo was actually going to replace them with a girl band still hurt the boys, and James, Logan, and Carlos were still kind of bitter about it. The fact that those girls almost beat them in practically everything, including earning Gustavo's love, hurt them even more.

"I was under a lotta pressure!" Logan said defensively as he thought back to the rap battle that he had lost. His self esteem dropped a few points that day.

Carlos put his hand on Logan's shoulder. "It's okay, buddy," he said. "You can't beat pure evil."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "I thought we made peace with them!"

"You made peace with them," James corrected. "We just followed along." Logan and Carlos nodded their heads in agreement. Kendall was about to say something else to argue, but he decided against it.

Kendall sighed. "Well I heard Gustavo's looking for someone to mentor them," he informed his friends. "Who knows? It could be us."

"Or not," Logan said. Kendall just glared at him. Why did Logan always have to be the pessimistic one?

"You boys ready?" Mrs. Knight asked as she exited her bedroom and walked into the living room. Katie was right behind her, also ready to go.

"Yeah, Mom. Let's go," Kendall replied.

"Are the girls coming with us?" she asked, knowing that the boys had told a few of their friends about the party.

"No Mama Knight," Carlos responded. "They'll meet us there."

"And if we don't leave now," Logan said, checking his watch. "Gustavo's gonna be super mad."

Kendall looked at Logan with a bored expression. "When is he _not_ mad?" he asked.

* * *

When the boys entered Rocque Records, everything seemed good at the time being. Everybody, including Griffin, Fujisaki, and even Kat's Krew, seemed happy.

"Hey, Logan," a voice familiar from behind said. Logan jumped and turned around.

"Hey Camille," Logan responded before the two began to get lost in their own conversation.

Carlos' eyebrows perked up. If Camille was here, Stephanie had to be around here somewhere. He started to separate from his friends, beginning his search for his girlfriend.

James' face lit up when he saw a blonde model. "Ooh," he said as he started to speed his way towards her before Kendall could stop him from doing something stupid. Kendall sighed in defeat.

"That's Natasha," another familiar voice from behind said. Kendall turned around to be greeted by Amirah, the hip hop artist of the Palm Woods who also had a contract with Gustavo. She was another one that the guys worried about. Both of her parents are African immigrants, and Amirah stayed in touch with her parents' cultures. Her extremely dark skin would be annoying to any "ethnic hater", as Carlos liked to call them.

"Hey, Kendall," the tall girl greeted as she waved.

"Hey, Amirah," he said as he glanced over at James. "He's messing with the wrong model isn't he?"

Amirah nodded. "One of Griffin's assistants winked at her, and she punched him," she responded, making Kendall wince. "She's Russian and mean."

"Oh no," Kendall breathed out. "You don't think he's gonna-"

Kendall's sentence was cut off by a smack and a loud "OW!"

Amirah hissed in sympathy as she looked to James. "Yeah...he is..."

James slowly walked back to them. He was sporting a frown and a bright red hand print on his left cheek. "Don't. Say. A word," he warned while glaring at Kendall.

Kendall shrugged apologetically. He used every bit of willpower in his body to not say anything. When James could sense that Kendall was truly going to stay quiet, he visibly relaxed.

"Okay," Amirah said cheerfully, hoping to distract from the current situation. "Music's gonna start in a few minutes, and since the DJ, Jamal, happens to be a friend of mine, I think this can be a party that we can actually have a say in when it comes to the music." Her big, brown eyes lit up as she pointed to the DJ, who was a young African-American man with dreads.

The boys thought back to the parties Gustavo had thrown in the past. They remembered the biggest failure was the choice, or lack of, music.

"Are you saying that the DJ will disregard all of Gustavo's instructions to listen to you?" Kendall asked in disbelief.

Amirah nodded and forced the two boys to follow her to the DJ's booth.

While the boys wreaking havoc in their own little ways, Jennifer Knight was standing near the buffet table getting a drink. She cursed under her breath after spilling a small amount of her punch onto her shirt.

"Good thing you chose black instead of while." Jennifer looked up. She was looking at a man with bright blue eyes and brown hair. The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Thank you," Jennifer said as she accepted the cloth. She gently wiped the punch off her shirt and handed the handkerchief back.

"No problem," he replied. The man reached out his hand. "Nathan," the man said to introduce himself.

"Jennifer," Mrs. Knight replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Nathan replied.

Katie watched the exchange going on between her mother and the strange man that was talking to her. "Kendall!" she called out as she sped over to her brother, who was still with James and Amirah.

"Katie?" Kendall asked. "What's up?"

Katie pulled her brother's wrist, dragging him to a better view of the buffet table.

Kendall raised an eyebrow. "Is Mom talking with a dude?"

Katie smiled and nodded. Was their mother trying the dating scene again..._without_ the help of her kids?

"Okay," Kendall finally said, breaking their thoughts. "Let's not assume anything. That guy could be just someone Mom's having a friendly, platonic conversation with. If Mom decides to actually date this guy, we will act surprised, and encourage her."

Katie nodded in agreement. "I'll keep an eye on them," she said, figuring she didn't have anything else to do at this party.

Nathan and Jennifer were still talking when a rap song began playing. Amirah and Jamal could be heard cheering and rapping along with the music. Nathan just rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me," Nathan said as his phone began ringing. Jennifer let him take his call, and Nathan promised her that he'd return as soon as possible.

"Hello," Nathan said as he answered the phone, walking away from Jennifer to a more quiet location. "Just at a party," he answered in a bored tone. "Yeah, I don't see why people find that Black crap so amusing. I can't believe it actually passes for music." Nathan's facial expression dropped as the person on the phone continued talking. "Well...did he say anything?" Nathan let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Okay. We'll figure something out...Yeah don't worry. Just be careful, okay?" Nathan ended the call and returned to the dance studio.

"Sorry about that," Nathan said sincerely. "Had a few things to settle."

"Oh it's no problem," Jennifer said.

"So," Nathan said with a smile. "Where were we?"

* * *

**I know the cops already arresting an attacker seems pretty early and easy. But c'mon. When have my stories ever been easy?**

**Review and let me know what you thought! :)**


	3. Worthless

**Here's a semi angsty chapter for y'all! (Complete with bromance at the end!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"After my dreaming. I woke with this fear. What am I leaving when I'm done here?" Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park

* * *

Everyone learned something knew at the party. Big Time Rush learned that Griffin wanted a new song recorded with Amirah, which they were all excited about. Carlos learned that Stephanie had won an award for a movie she had recently filmed. James learned that models from the JJC agency were all equally over emotional and violent. He learned that the hard way when he tried to flirt with two of Natasha's friends. Logan learned that Camille got the part for an action movie she had been praying for. Kendall and Katie learned that their mother had had made dinner plans with Nathan, who happened to work with Griffin.

So overall, everything was going well.

Another thing they learned was that Gustavo had forced Kelly to move in with him for the time being. The boys could tell that Gustavo was nervous about leaving Kelly by herself with everything going on in LA. Of course, when Gustavo asked Kelly to move into his mansion, his reason was that he "couldn't afford to look for a new associate when you die."

Gustavo gave Amirah the option of having Freight Train as protection, so that anytime she had a late night at the studio, Freight Train would make sure she got home okay. It took her a while, but her friends Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan finally convinced her to let Freight Train keep watch over her when she needed it. Sure, Freight Train was Black...

...But who would want to try to attack Freight Train?

Freight Train was extremely nice. They all loved him, and he loved all of them. Underneath the size and the tough look, Freight Train was one big teddy bear. But when someone needed saving, that teddy bear was gone, replaced by a beast.

The boys were at the pool when they noticed something strange. Something a little _too_ strange.

There were only two Jennifers.

James stood up from his lawn chair in panic. "Hey," he called out to the girls. "Where's curly-haired Jennifer?"

Blonde Jennifer gave James an insulting look before answering his question. "She's with her family in Beverly Hills." She sighed. "Her parents were afraid for her life after hearing what's been going on around here...if you know what I mean..."

"When is she coming back?" James asked.

Brunette Jennifer shrugged. "Once this whole thing cools down, I guess. Did you know she received a threat?"

The boys' eyes widened.

"No way," Logan said. A threat? How did that even happen? "She's lucky. At least it was just a threat." He didn't mean to sound insensitive, but threats seemed way better compared to a full blown attack, leading to death.

Blonde Jennifer had an offended look on her face, but when Logan's words settled into her mind, she visibly relaxed. He was right. Jennifer wasn't dead. She was just gone, and it was temporary. The two Jennifers began walking away, leaving the boys alone.

Carlos jumped in his seat. "Do you think Stephanie and Amirah will have to move away?"

"And go where?" Stephanie said as her, Camille, and Amirah walked up to the four boys.

Logan, Carlos, and Kendall stood up. Kendall spoke up. "With everything going on over here, have any of your parents talked about...leaving LA for a while?"

Stephanie and Amirah shook their heads. "We know it seems like a good idea to get away for a while," Stephanie began. "But we have way too much to lose if we just up and leave."

The boys stayed quiet after hearing Stephanie's comment. Those girls were very dedicated to what they do and they DID have a lot to lose if they left LA, even for just a little bit.

The boys all had different thoughts flowing through their heads, but there was one thought crossing their heads at the same time.

_We have way too much to lose if we lose one of you._

* * *

It was all getting to Carlos. His friends could tell. The person who could tell the most was James. Not only was he closest to Carlos, but they also shared a room, so whenever Carlos had a nightmare, James always knew.

Such as tonight.

James didn't know why he woke up. His eyes literally shot open. He turned his head to look at the digital clock at his bedside. The bright red numbers burned his eyes as he learned that the time was 2:53AM. Why would James wake up this late on a Friday night. Nay, this early on a Saturday morning?

James stretched his long limbs, pushing the previous question out of his mind. He instead attempted to fall back asleep, but the quiet was interrupted by strange noises coming from the other side of the room. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and saw that Carlos' sheets were on the floor and he was tossing in turning, his pillow dangerously close to the edge of the bed.

James forgets about his sleep as he rushes over to Carlos' bed side. He saves the pillow, laying it at the end of the bed, before sitting next to Carlos' and grabbing his shoulders, trying to wake the smaller boy up. "Carlos! Wake up! It's just a nightmare!" He gently shakes him and terrified brown eyes open wide to meet worried hazel ones. Carlos' breathing is rapid at first before it starts to slow down as realization hits his sleepy mind.

James helped Carlos sit up in bed. He could see his Latino friend shaking, so James pulled him into a hug. "Do you wanna talk about it?" James finally asked.

Carlos shook his head. "You should go back to sleep. I know you're really tired. Sorry for waking you."

"That's bull," James responded. "I was already awake anyway." He held Carlos a little tighter. "Tell me what it was about," he demanded, but in a nice way.

Carlos sighed, knowing that James wasn't going to leave this alone. "I-I'm not really sure," he said truthfully. "Three guys came and attacked me. Th-they were hitting me, calling me really mean names, making fun of me because I'm Hispanic. They told me I was worthless. One of them said that just because I hang out with three white guys doesn't make me white also. They wouldn't stop hitting me," Carlos added as he started sobbing. "James?" he asked, receiving a hum from his bigger friend. "D-do you think that I'm worthless because I'm not white?"

James was quick in shaking his head. "No. Of course not, buddy. I don't care about where you're from. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met, Carlos. You so fun and full of energy. You put a smile on everybody's face. That's why I hang with you. You're not worthless. If anything, you're worth everything to me." James chuckled. "You know, I've always been really jealous of you."

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because," James answered. "You speak two languages fluently. I've always thought that was really cool. You have an amazing tan, something I had to work hard to get. But you got one naturally. That's so not fair."

Carlos smiled. "So...you think I'm cool...you know...being Hispanic? You're not ashamed of that?"

"I'm not ashamed of that," James said. "If anything, I'm proud of it. And you should be too."

"Th-thanks James," Carlos said as he wiped stray tears from his face.

"Get some sleep, okay Carlitos?" James said as he slowly unwrapped himself from Carlos. "I'll be right here if you need me."

Carlos nodded wordlessly. When James began making his way to his own bed, Carlos laid back down and covered himself with his blankets. James' words rang in the smaller boy's head. He loved what James had said and was extremely grateful to hear all that.

So why did Carlos still doubt his worth?

* * *

**This was short. I know...But didja like it? **


	4. English

**O_O Wow this chapter is long. So sorry. Anyway...here it is! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"And I cant help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer" -Drive by Incubus

* * *

"Hey Valens!" Detective Washington, Valens' African-American partner, yelled out as he approached Detective Valens' desk. He threw a file on Valens' desk. "I think I might have found something about Matthew Long."

Piqued with curiosity, Detective Valens started looking through the files. His eyebrows scrunched up as he continued reading. "Am I supposed to be surprised that he's spent time in juvie when he was younger?" he asked.

Detective Washington rolled his eyes. "Look at what he got sent to juvie for. Three counts of aggravated assault. Derrick Benson, Arnold Fisher, and Tyrone Michaels...all black."

"So he's basically hate this hate for minorities his entire life," Valens stated, earning a sigh from his partner.

"He started getting into trouble when he was eleven," Detective Washington began to explain. "His parents had gotten a divorce when he was ten. Turns out, Matthew's dad cheated on the mom with..." he trailed off, hoping that Detective Valens would figure it out and finish the sentence.

"A Black woman," Valens finally said. Washington nodded, so Valens continued speaking. "So his hate was stemmed from his father and his affair." He glanced through the files, carefully this time. "Visitation rights were taken away from Matthew's father. So basically, the man never saw his kid after the divorce." Valens' eyes widened as he continued reading through the file. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. "And Matthew's mom killed herself three years later...Because of that, he was put into foster care."

There was a silence between the two partners. The only sound they heard was the surrounding chaos buzzing in the department.

But Detective Washington broke the silence. "These guys...whoever they are...killed Andre Washington."

Valens nodded. "Your cousin," he stated.

Washington nodded. "And I don't care what his life story is. I don't feel sorry for him. I just want us to take him and his friends down."

"And we will," Valens promised. He dropped the files before continuing to speak. "Matthew Long seems to have a hate specifically for African-Americans, but these 'White Soldiers' don't just target African-Americans. They go after anyone who's not white."

"And we caught Long because he tried to kill a Mexican," Detective Washington reminded his partner. "He probably met the other 'White Soldiers', they all had a common story, ya know? That created a bond between them. Maybe something sad happened in their life and blamed it on a minority. That hate, combined with fear, grew and grew. Then, when their little friends hear of these stories, they convince themselves and each other that all minorities are bad and life would be better without 'em."

Valens' eyebrows perked up. "Okay, slow down, conspiracy theorist. Let's just-" Valens was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. He glanced at the caller ID, then answered the phone with all seriousness.

Washington got closer to his partner, trying to listen to the conversation Valens was having.

Valens ended the call. He looked to his partner. "Let's go. At the Palm Woods hotel. There's been another murder by our guys."

"How do you know?" Washington asked.

"They left a little something for us," Valens answered simply.

* * *

Carlos had woken up two more times that night. James always woke up, of course, despite Carlos constantly begging him to go back to sleep. But James didn't listen to him. Instead, he comforted Carlos in every way possible until the scared Latino had fallen back asleep.

It saddened James to see Carlos so afraid and self conscious. Carlos was never the one to pay attention to something like race. It just wasn't his thing. He always believed that a person should be treated according to what is on the inside, and James wished everyone had the same mindset as his small friend.

But now, Carlos was suffering. In his mind, he constantly wondered what his life would be like if he were white. Sure, he'd gotten some pretty racist comments growing up. He had even fallen victim to bullying because of his race. That never bothered him. Carlos knew that it wasn't their fault that they hated him because of race. He knew they were just misguided, young, and naive. Like him.

But the people attacking and killing others right now because of race, he wasn't so sure.

The next morning, Logan and Kendall were surprised to see that Carlos had not woken up yet.

When James arrived at the dining table for breakfast, his two shorter friends gave him confused looks.

"Carlos isn't up yet?" Logan asked.

James shook his head in response. "He didn't sleep very well," he answered. "Th-the hate crimes..." James sighed as he poured himself some cereal and milk in a bowl. "I'm worried about him," he confessed.

"There's no reason to be," Kendall replied. "We all made a promise to Carlos and OURSELVES that we won't let anything happen to him. I plan to make sure that promise kept." His friends could see the determination coming from Kendall's eyes.

"I know that," James said. "That doesn't scare me. Carlos is going to be fine, I know that...but look what this whole thing is doing to him now!" James didn't mean for the volume of his voice to increase like that, it just kind of happened. He winced, hoping he didn't wake up Carlos with that outburst. James lowered his voice and continued. "He's really scared. He kept having nightmares last night. You know what he asked me?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Logan and Kendall shook their heads anyway.

"He asked me if I thought he was worthless!" James answered. "He thought he was worthless because he wasn't white."

There was silence in the room, Kendall and Logan trying to process what James had just said. "We...we didn't know," Logan said, looking to Kendall, who shrugged pathetically. "Why didn't he tell us?"

"Maybe because he thought he wasn't worth our time!" James reasoned. James was about to yell something else, but was cut off with the door opening.

Jennifer and Katie had walked in with bags of groceries, both wearing confused and worried looks on their faces.

"Why are there cops and caution tape outside?" Katie asked, placing grocery bags on the table. "All we heard is that something happened here last night."

The boys exchanged confused looks before dashing out the door, still in their pajamas, and headed downstairs. When they walked outside, it wasn't hard to find where everything started. All they had to do was follow the crowd.

"What's going on?" Logan asked out loud, hoping that someone would hear him and answer the question.

Camille noticed the boys in the crowd and approached them. She gave Logan a peck on the cheek before answering her question. "It's not pretty," she finally answered. "You know Josh, the guy in 4A?"

"The guys who says he's Jay-Z's nephew?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Camille nodded before she continued. "That's...that's him they found in the dumpster."

The boys gasped. Kendall's mouth hung open. Logan's eyes widened. James looked over at his two best friends, who easily read what James was trying to say with his look.

_You know how Carlos will react to this, right?_

"There's more," Camille added, temporarily snapping the boys out of their shock. What more could there possibly be? "Whoever did this to him...cut a Swastika into his arm."

"A Sah-whatika?" James asked, thinking Camille made up a word just to stumble him.

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes. "A Nazi symbol!"

"I thought the Nazis are over," James said, completely confused at this point.

Camille sighed, feeling the same frustration that Logan seemed to have.

"James," Logan addressed his friend. "The Nazis believed in the dominance of the Aryan race. So basically, the dominance of the pure Whites, so it makes sense for racists of nowadays to use this symbol."

The boys knew that Carlos would find out about this incident. And they knew that it would only scare the poor boy even more.

When James, Kendall, and Logan turned around to head back to their apartment, they discovered that Carlos would find out sooner than they thought he would. Because now in front of them was Carlos, shaking and staring at the dumpster that Josh was found in.

* * *

Four people were sitting in a living room, watching the news report. News of the killing had already surfaced, talking about the tragic death of Joshua Marks, a teenage boy with a future in music.

One of the watchers chuckled as he listened to the newscaster's voice. The newscaster spoke as if the death of the kid was a sad one. Like Josh had a life worth living.

Well they all thought that was bull.

"If he wasn't killed," a female voice in the living room said, breaking the silence. "He woulda died anyway. How much do you wanna bet that this 'Joshua' kid smoked weed more than he breathed oxygen?"

She laughed as she remembered seeing the look on the boy's face right before he died. The look of fear. The pitiful look shown on his face was priceless.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Tell me when the news actually has something good to say," she said.

Her boyfriend laughed. "Hey Susan, remember when he begged us not to kill him?"

"Last I checked," another voice rang out. "We tell his people what to do, not the other way around."

"Aw poor kid," the last voice finally spoke up, completely sarcastic as he continued watching the news report. "Jpshua had academic awards. He was the oldest of three kids in the family. He was a talented musician blah blah blah. No one cares."

"I don't understand why people view us as the bad guys," Susan's boyfriend said. "We've done nothing but clean up the streets of LA, and this is the thanks we get?"

"They're all misguided, Justin," Susan responded as she messed with her curly hair. "Once they start to see the benefit to all of this, they'll understand that what we're doing, is actually saving them." She turned off the TV. "Michael," she said to another one of the guys. "You seem deep in thought."

Michael shrugged. "I_ am_ a little deep in thought..." he confessed. "Matthew. I wonder how he's doing."

Justin sighed. "Yeah, it's sad he got caught, but he's loyal to us, he's not gonna rat us out."

"But what about that cop?" Michael argued. "The one that's related to that Andre guy we killed? It was all over the news. Can you believe they're still letting him work this case? Who knows what he's doing to Matthew."

"Matthew wouldn't let anything like that happen," the still unidentified person stated confidently.

"Do you not remember how he got into jail in the first place?" Michael asked. "Nathan, what do we do?" Michael asked as he turned to the mastermind of their group.

Nathan sighed as he stood up from the couch. "Well I'm heading to work, then going on a date tonight tomorrow night. We can figure something out later."

* * *

Kendall, James, and Logan were surprised at how quick Carlos had recovered from the discovery of attack at the Palm Woods. If what Carlos had done could be called "Recovery."

When one of his friends brought up the subject of Josh's attack, Carlos would say things like, "I'm fine" or "There's nothing to talk about, later telling his friends that the only thing he needed at the moment, was for all of them to get to the studio. After constant efforts from Logan, James, and Kendall, they finally called it quits. When Carlos was ready to talk, he'd talk.

The boys had planned to ride to the studio together with Amirah, since they were heading to the same destination, anyway. When they got down to the lobby, they spotted Amirah talking to two detectives. They knew that it had everything to do with Josh's death.

"I wish I could be of more help," she was telling one cop after they were through questioning her. He was a tired looking African American man, and they could only imagine that these detectives were the ones assigned to the murders involved with the hate crimes. "But all I saw was him leaving the lobby to get something from his car. I was on my way to my apartment, about to go to bed, so I never saw him come back in but I just assumed that he'd be okay..." she trailed off.

"It's okay," the detective replied. He pulled out a business card. "If you or any of your friends hear anything, give us a call."

"Okay, Detective Washington," Amirah replied as the two detectives began taking their leave. She was about to do the same when she heard Detective Washington call out to her again.

"And...be careful, okay?" Dectective Washington simply said, earning a nod of graitude from Amirah.

"Amirah," Kendall called out to her after the detectives left. He and his friends sped over to her. "Was that about...?" he trailed off.

Amirah nodded. "Apparently, I was the last person to see him alive." She sighed. "I shoulda stayed down here. You know that creppy feeling you get when you think something bad is about to happen? Well I had that! If I had stayed in the lobby for just a few extra minutes, I coulda seen something or-"

"Gotten yourself killed," James cut in, hoping to calm her down. His friends nodded in agreement.

Amirah sighed. "Yeah but...survivor's guilt sucks."

Kendall chuckled. "Trust me. I know." He inhaled deeply before continuing. "But in the end, his death wasn't your fault. You didn't help the ethnic haters attack Josh. You didn't give them the knives. You didn't tell them when and where they could find Josh by himself. You shouldn't feel guilty about this."

"The police are gonna find the jerks that did this," Carlos said with full confidence. With his father being a cop, he always trusted the police. His father always taught him that if you're patient, the system works toward the innocent person's favor. "And when they do, they're gonna give these guys the punishment they deserve."

Amirah swallowed the lump in her throat, Carlos' optimism becoming a little contagious. "We should head to the studio," she said, suddenly realizing the time, and trying to change the subject.

Once they made it to Rocque Records, Gustavo went straight to business. "Now tell me," Gustavo demanded loudly. "Have you started the song Griffin wants?"

The teenage musicians looked at each other. Kendall finally shrugged. "We really...haven't been able to think of anything yet," he answered.

Gustavo was about to yell at them, but Kelly was always quick in stopping him and giving him a lecture. As much as Gustavo liked the fact that Kelly was temporarily staying at his mansion, he hated the fact that Kelly had the ability to nag at him even more, and Gustavo couldn't tune her out.

Gustavo sucked in a deep breath. "WHY NOT?" he yelled anyway, though the statement came out sounding much nicer than he expected.

"Uh, we've kinda had other things on our minds right now," Logan responded. "It's not like we've purposely been ignoring it, it's just that we can't think of anything."

Gustavo sighed in frustration. "I don't know if you realize this," he finally said, his volume steadily increasing. "But if Griffin doesn't get what he wants, he'll fire someone! Do you understand?"

"Don't try to scare them, Gustavo," a new voice warned kindly. Everybody turned their heads to entrance of Gustavo's office to be greeted by Nathan, making them wonder how long he'd been standing there.

"I'm not scaring them," Gustavo argued. "I'm telling them what's fact! Besides, nothing scares them! They never do what I say!"

"Hey!" Amirah said in defense. "I listen!"

Gustavo just rolled his eyes in response.

"Gustavo. Kelly. Why don't I speak with them alone?" Nathan suggested. Gustavo glared at Nathan and the five teenagers before walking out of his own office. He wanted to argue with Nathan, but he remembered an important fact: Nathan worked with Griffin. In other words, Nathan was almost Gustavo's boss. If Nathan was anything like Griffin, a dispute over something as trivial as office space would turn into huge trouble.

"So no song?" Nathan asked. "You haven't thought of anything at all?"

Oh. So that's how long he was standing at the door. How did anyone not notice him?

"We have a few ideas," Carlos finally spoke up. "But nothing's written in stone yet. We just need a few more days!"

Carlos regretted speaking up like that. He saw a weird look in Nathan's eyes that seemed almost scary.

"James," Nathan called out to the tall brunette. "What are you reading?"

James smiled as he held up his magazine, the front cover written in nothing but Spanish. "Pop Tiger Latino," James answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I think I found a solution to our writer's block."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "You solved our writer's block...by reading a magazine?" Logan scrunched up his eyes as he stared at it. "How do you even understand that?"

"My Spanish is better than you'd think!" James defended. "Ask Carlos."

Everyone looked to Carlos, waiting for his answer. He shrugged and smiled. "I must admit. James' Spanish isn't bad. What didja get, buddy?"

James smiled. He cleared his throat before beginning. "According to this magazine, Reggaeton star Don Omar, and Egyptian singer, Hakim, did a song compilation that was a huge hit."

Amirah snapped her fingers. "I know that song! Don Omar sang all his parts in Spanish, and Hakim sang in only Arabic!"

James nodded excitedly. "We should try something like that! Amirah or Carlos can sing in their language, and we sing the rest in English!"

"No," Nathan's voice cut in, suddenly killing the excitement. "No, you shouldn't."

"Why not?" Kendall asked. "I think that's a great idea."

"Listen," Nathan breathed out. "This John Omar-"

"_Don_ Omar," Carlos quickly corrected, earning a small glare from Nathan.

"Don Omar," Nathan said. "Has probably been in the business much longer than all of you have. He knew what he was doing when he signed with that Egyptian. You kids, don't. So for now, we're sticking strictly to English."

"Back to the drawing board, I guess," Amirah said with a large sigh. "But thanks for the suggestion, James."

Carlos sighed. He was excited about singing a song in Spanish. But Nathan knew what he was talking about. Neither of them were as experienced as Don Omar and Hakim, so it makes sense that Nathan would object to that idea.

Right?

* * *

Nathan had given them a few more days to at least come up with a verse or a chorus. Carlos had thousands of ideas, but Nathan shot down all of them. He didn't even give Carlos a chance. He had to admit that it hurt him, but he couldn't let that get to him. Being back at the Palm Woods made Carlos, who was lounging at the poolside, extremely happy.

Carlos, James, and Kendall were messing with Logan, but Logan tuned them out.

From across the pool, Stephanie subconsciously stared at Carlos. She thought he looked so cute and happy as he continuously messed with Logan while still looking completely innocent. Stephanie blushed as she noticed that the sun had shone on Carlos' torso, showing his perfectly toned abs. "Earth to Stephanie!" a voice yelled, disrupting her gazing. She looked up to be greeted by Camille. Camille gave a fake sigh of relief. "For a second there I thought I lost ya," she joked. She took a seat. "What's on your mind?" Camille asked. "Well...Besides the obvious," she added, gesturing over to Carlos.

"Whatever," Stephanie said while giggling. She blushed. "It's nothing."

Camille just stared at her. She didn't believe Stephanie for a second. "You're a liar," Camille responded.

Stephanie sighed, knowing that no matter what, Camille wasn't going to let it go. "Has Logan ever acted...paranoid when it comes to your safety? Like, has he ever made you constantly check in with him?"

Camille nodded truthfully. "C'mon. This is Logan we're talking about. He makes everyone he's close to do that. Why do you ask?"

Stephanie hesitated before responding. So...maybe she was overreacting? "Well...Carlos has been really...overprotective of me lately..." She loved that Carlos cared for her so much, but she found that protective and caring character kind of annoying nowadays.

Camille raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit that when Logan first started doing that, it bothered me. But after a while, I realized that he did it because he loved me so much. Remember that time I went to Connecticut to visit my family?" she asked, receiving a nod from Stephanie. "I promised him that I would call as soon as I landed, but by the time my plane landed in Connecticut, my phone died. I charged it at my family's house, but I fell asleep and forgot to call him. Kendall told me that Logan couldn't sleep the first night I was gone because he was so afraid that something had happened to me." Camille chuckled. "When I finally _did_ contact Logan, he was so mad. He yelled at me for a few seconds before apologizing. That's when I found just how much I meant to Logan, and you have no idea how happy that made me feel."

"Well, I find it cute when Carlos does it sometimes..." Stephanie admitted. "But other times it's kinda weird. He's been having me check in with him. Especially at night."

"Maybe he's just worried about you," Camille reasoned. "Everybody's been on edge since those hate crimes. And with Josh's death, he has even _more_ reason to be worried about you. Carlos just wants to make sure you're okay. He can't help it."

Stephanie sighed. "I know. It's been hard for a lot of us," Stephanie confessed. Just the thought that the next one could be her or someone she cared about made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Besides," Camille began. "I'm sure the guys are making him do the same thing." She was completely sure the other guys did the same thing to Carlos. Camille loved the way Logan got whenever he worried about someone. She just thought it was extremely adorable.

Stephanie smiled, seeing reason in Camille's words. "So when do you think he'll calm down?"

Camille shrugged. "Probably after this whole thing blows over. I'm sure the police are having some sort of breakthrough moment as we speak."

Stephanie nodded. "The sooner the better."

Carlos poked Logan's side, causing his pale friend to jump. "Ow. Carlos! Would you cut that out?"

"I can't help it, Logie," Carlos responded. "It's so funny seeing you jump like that!"

"Well be careful," Logan warned. "I think your girlfriend's getting jealous. She probably thinks there's something going on between us..."

"My girl..." Carlos trailed off as he saw Logan indicate Stephanie, chatting with Camille.

"She's been staring at you for a while now," Logan pointed out. "I'm surprised that you haven't noticed."

Carlos turned over to Stephanie, who was pretending to ignore him. Carlos smiled as he saw Stephanie talk to Camille while she played with her long, dark hair, deep in thought. Every time she did that, it sent chills down his spine. Carlos finally snapped out of his thoughts. "I'm just giving her some space..."

"Well don't give her too much space," Logan warned.

Carlos shook his head. "I have something very special planned for the both of us coming up soon." Carlos already had a perfect date for Stephanie planned. He wasn't going to let anything mess it up.

* * *

**Well this chapter is not only long but really random.**

**Idea! I want to do a Logan story next! I've some stories revolving around Kendall, Carlos, and James coming to Kendall's rescue, but I haven't done a real thing with Logan yet. (That "We Made It" oneshot doesn't count!) So that's now on my Fanfic to-do list**

**Anyway, so for those of you who read my "Miracle" fic, I mentioned that Amirah was Sudanese. Anyway, writing this chapter reminded me of a funny conversation I had with my cousin. Basically, I confessed my love of BTR to him, and he looked at me with a look of disgust and said "Ew. I'd rather listen to Sudanese music." Now really, I remember the Sudanese music I used to listen to wasn't bad, but IDK, maybe it's been a while.**

**Okay. I swear I'm done talking nonsense. Now be honest. What did you think of this chapter. I'M A BIG GIRL I CAN TAKE IT! Anyway, expect some real angst to start hitting at the next chapter.**


	5. Tonight is the Night

**I'm an idiot. So the last chapter, I mentioned a song sung in Arabic and Spanish. I forgot to metnion that the song is called "Tigi Tigi" by Hakim feat. Don Omar, who happens to be my absolute favorite reggaeton artist, and Hakim happens to be my favorite Egyptian singer, so that's why I think that song is perfect. So no, I don't own it. Thanks TinyHandzRuleBD for unintentionally hinting to me that I didn't say what that song was. :P**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I would be you, you would be me, we would be one, we would be just fine"- Dreamworld by Robin Thicke

* * *

The night Carlos had been waiting for was finally here. His big date with Stephanie, celebrating her success.

Carlos adjusted his black blazer. He checked his hair for the hundredth time.

"You ready, little guy?" James asked, suddenly appearing behind Carlos. Carlos nodded. Logan and Kendall walked in.

"I'm gonna take Stephanie to that new Indian restaurant," Carlos said proudly with a huge smile. He knew Stephanie loved him, but he always had low self esteem when it came to dating. A lot of girls didn't like Carlos, so the fact that Stephanie chose him of all people still surprised him. He wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that she continued loving him, and one of those ways was using every oppurtunity he got to impress her.

Logan's eyebrows perked up. "Fancy," he said.

"I want tonight to be special," Carlos responded. "Stephanie's new movie won at that festival she went to. She keeps saying that it's no big deal but I think should still celebrate it."

Kendall saw Carlos' phone on a nearby table. He picked it up and handed it to him. "You two be careful, okay?" he begged, reluctant to let his little friend go despite everything going on.

Carlos nodded in obedience. He would never let anything happen to his girlfriend. "I'll be careful," he said in a low voice. At first, he was highly debating even going out tonight in the first place, but he decided that he wasn't going to let a group of ethnic haters ruin the celebration that Stephanie really deserves. "I wish this would all just blow over already."

Carlos' friends already knew what he was talking about. "We do too, buddy," James said, patting Carlos on the shoulder.

"Are you sure you wanna go out tonight?" Logan asked. He saw the look of nervousness that Carlos wore on his face. Logan hoped Carlos would say no.

When Carlos had told his three best friends about his plans to take Stephanie out, they begged him not to go. But for once, Carlos refused to listen to his friends. He just wanted to spend time with the girl he loved.

Carlos nodded. "I'll be careful, okay? And we'll be back at 9:30. No later."

"Alright, Carlos," Kendall responded. "Go have fun, okay? 9:30!"

Carlos smiled and nodded as he began walking out. He grabbed his keys and said goodbye to his friends.

"9:30!" he heard his three friends yell as he opened the door to leave.

"9:30. I got it!" Carlos said in annoyance and closed the door.

* * *

Logan, James, and Kendall watched as Carlos shut the door behind him.

"Think he'll be okay?" Logan asked, being unsuccessful in trying to extinguish the worry growing in his heart.

James nodded. "Yeah...yeah he will," he said confidently, though Logan and Kendall had doubts to how certain James was feeling about that staement.

James wishes that he could have gone with Carlos and Stepahnie. Not because he wanted to be a third wheel on their date. He hated being the third wheel. He just couldn't help the growing feeling in his gut that told him that Carlos needed im tonight.

He shook the thought out of his head. Calrlos would be fine. Besides, the small Latino had promised to text Logan every twenty minutes, just so he could ease their paranoia.

Kendall sighed as he plopped on the couch. "Well...Carlos is on his date, Mom's on her date, Katie's sleeping over at a friends' house...we should just chill tonight. Agree?" Kendall grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

James and Logan shrugged. "Movie?" they both said at the same time, receiving a nod from Kendall.

While his friends were "chillin'" at the apartment, Carlos rushed to Stephanie's apartment. He took a deep breath, giving himself a mental pep talk, before he relaxed and knocked on the door.

Stephanie's father answered the door. "Carlos," the middle-aged African-American happily addressed the boy in front of him.

"Good evening Mr. King!" Carlos greeted. Stephanie's dad wasn't like most fathers. He actually _liked_ the boy his daughter was dating.

"Good to see you, Carlos," Mr. King responded, causing Carlos to smile.

"Dad? Is that Carlos?" Stephanie asked from inside the apartment. She approached the door. "Hi Carlos," she greeted as she put on her earrings.

"Ready to go?" he asked her, receiving a nod. Carlos looked to her father. "I'll have her back by 9:30. Is that okay?"

Mr. King nodded. "You two be careful." Carlos heard that tone again. The pleading tone. Was going out tonight really that bad of an idea? Carlos shook that question from his mind.

Carlos grabbed Stephanie's hand, grabbing it firmly as they began wallking away.

* * *

"Did you like the food, Stephanie?" Carlos asked as they scraped off the remaining food off their plates.

Stephanie nodded. "The samosas were amazing."

Carlos nodded in agreement as he paid the waiter. He smiled as he and Stephanie walked ot of the restaurant doors. _So far, so good,_ he praised himself.

Carlos couldn't stop looking at Stephanie as they walked to his car. Her long, dark hair hung beautifully, fluttering a little as an occasional gust of wind flew by. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Thank you," she said as Carlos opened the passenger door of his car for her.

As soon as Carlos entered the car, he started the engine and smiled. "You know. I'm really happy for you. With your movie winning and all. For some reason, I don't believe that I've said this enough but, I'm really proud of you."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Carlos. I told you it was no big deal." She paused in thought. "Is that what tonight is for?"

Carlos nodded. "I wouldn't feel right if I let you ignore that award. We're celebrating." He smiled once again, hoping that his big cheeks would prevent Stephanie from becoming angry.

Apparently, it worked.

Stephanie smiled. "You're so cute," she finally sighed. Carlos secretly took a sigh of relief.

"Not as cute as you," he replied.

They pulled into the movie theater, choosing a movie that would not exceed two hours. Carlos allowed Stephanie to lean against his chest while his arm was wrapped around her shoulders throughout the entire movie. Stephanie snuggled into his embrace. Carlos barely paid attention to the movie. His thoughts were occupied by Stephanie.

Carlos and Stephanie couldn't believe how fast the night had gone. The movie had ended, the time being at 9:15. They walked out of the theater, Carlos arm once again around Stephanie's waist.

"Carlos," Stephanie said. Once Carlos turned and looked her straight in the eyes, she continued. "Tonight was...amazing. Thank you so much."

Carlos shrugged. "No need to thank me, Stephanie. You deserve every bit of it. I just wish I coulda done more."

"You've done more than you know," she replied.

* * *

"Maybe he's running a little late," James said, hoping to rid of the worry that he, Kendall, and Logan felt. "Traffic could be bad...or maybe Carlos lost track of time. You know how Carlos gets when he's with Stephanie." James knew Carlos very well. And James knew that anytime Carlos was around Stephanie, he paid attention to nothing else but her. He was praying that would be the case tonight.

Logan checked his phone again, sighing when he saw that he still had no missed calls from Carlos. Carlos had kept his promise to Logan, sending a quick text to his friends to let them know that he was fine. But then...the texts stopped.

Kendall tried calling Carlos again. "C'mon, Carlos! Where are you?" Kendall said when he was greeted by Carlos' answering machine.

"Maybe his phone's dead?" James asked pathetically as he slowly shrugged his shoulders.

It was an hour after Carlos said he'd be home and there still wasn't any word. There was a knock on the door. Kendall rushed to the door, not very surprised to see Mr. King standing in front of him.

"Have you heard anything from Carlos or Stephanie?" Mr. King asked, getting straight to the point. "Steph hasn't answered her phone or called."

Kendall sighed. "N-no we haven't. Carlos said he'd be back by 9:30 but..." Kendall trailed off.

Mr. King's phone started ringing. "Excuse me," he said, holding up a finger to Kendall's face. "Hello," he answered whoever was calling. "Y-yes. Why?"

Kendall's eyes widened as he saw Mr. King's face become unnaturally pale, which, Kendall didn't think was possible. Kendall couldn't hear what the conversation was about, but he knew that it couldn't be good. He shoved his hands in his pockets so that Mr. King wouldn't be able to see them shaking.

"O-okay," Mr. King said. "I'm on my way." He hung up the phone.

"Mr. King...is everything okay?" Kendall asked. At this point, Logan and James had joined them at the door.

Stephanie's father shook his head. "St-Stephanie's in the h-hospital," he choked out. The boys gasped. The house phone began ringing. "Answer that," Mr. King commanded. "I-it could be the hospital too."

Logan ran to the phone. "Hello," he answered, trying to hide his panic.

_"Is this the residence of Carlos Garcia?"_ the female voice coming from the phone asked.

"Y-yes," Logan responded. He swallowed the lump in his throat "Wh-what's going on?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

_"This is Mercy hospital. I'm sorry to say this but Carlos Garcia was involved in what looks like a mugging. That's all I can say over the phone. Do you think you can come down here?"_

"Y-yeah...We're on our way," Logan said, hanging up the phone. James grabbed the keys, and the three boys ran out of their apartment. By this time, Mr. King had been long gone.

James drove the car, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. Kendall anxiously ran his fingers through his hair. Logan couldn't stop shaking. The ride to the hospital was silent. What happened to Carlos and Stephanie? They didn't deserve this. Tonight was supposed to be special for them. Now some greedy punk had ruined it for them.

"We're here," James finally breathed out.

* * *

**The song I quoted in the beginning if this chapter was, as it says, "Dreamworld" by Robin Thicke. Seriously, if you haven't heard that song, look it up. I was listening to it while writing this chapter and that song...it's just...just so...OMG just look it up!**

**Anyway...Looks like we're all gonna have to wait for the next chapter to see what happened to Carlos and Stephanie.**

**Didja like this?**


	6. Flashback

**I lost a lotta hair writing this chapter...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"You know that I'll protect you from all of the obscene" -Blurry by Puddle of Mudd

* * *

The wait in the hospital was killer. Kendall wouldn't stop pacing, trying to distract himself from the current situation. Logan constantly checked the time, wondering if the clock had been broken, or if he and his friends had really only been here for thirty minutes. James let out deep sighs as he stared into the wall, trying to make himself believe that everything going on couldn't be as bad as it seems.

"Guys!" Amirah called out as she and Camille ran up to them. Logan had called Camille a few minutes ago when his shaky fingers had steadied enough to function.

"Have they said anything?" Camille asked. She took a seat next to Logan and started rubbing his back.

Logan nodded, hoping that he didn't look as scared as he felt. "St-Stephanie will be okay," he stuttered. "Sh-she just got a concussion a-and a lot of bruising..." He wasn't going to tell the girls that some of Stephanie's bruising came from Stephanie being brutally held down on the ground. He didn't want to think about what those men WOULD have done to her if they weren't scared off by a good Samaritan calling 911.

Camille was a little more relieved. She was afraid Stephanie's condition would be much worse.

"Her father is with her now," Kendall said, fighting the tears getting ready to fall from his eyes. "She should be waking up soon." Kendall tried to hide the bitterness in his voice. He liked Stephanie, he really did. But he couldn't help but wonder why she got off so easily while Carlos was...

"What about Carlos?" Amirah asked, having a feeling that she would hate the answer.

James and Kendall became angry.

"C-Carlos...he got the worst of it," James stated. "He has three broken ribs, two of them cracked. His forearm was fractured...a-and...he was stabbed...multiple times..."

Amirah and Camille gasped.

"He's in a coma," Logan finished, noticing that it was becoming harder for James to talk.

"He could have bled to death!" Kendall yelled in anger.

"Have you guys been allowed to see him?" Camille asked.

Logan shook his head.

They all waited a full hour more before a nurse approached the group, informing them that Carlos can take visitors. They numbly walked to room 310.

James gasped the second he walked into Carlos' room.

They could all tell that the hospital staff had tried to clean up Carlos face, but you could still see the damage clearly. Carlos' face and arms were bruised and he was extremely pale. A few cuts on his face. He was unnaturally still. It looked like Carlos was currently at Death's door.

"What happened to you, buddy?" James said as he stroked Carlos' hair. James promised himself that if he found whoever did this, he'd show that person no mercy.

"He's gonna be okay," Logan said, hoping to not only reassure his friends, but also reassure himself.

The doctor walked in, checking on Carlos' vitals.

"Dr. Nichols," Logan said. "He's gonna be okay, right? I mean, these injuries seem kinda severe for just a mugging..." Logan trailed off.

Dr. Nichols sighed. "The police have already been notified. And you're right. This no longer seems like a mugging. Nothing appears to have been stolen from Mr. Garcia or Miss King."

"So what are you saying?" Kendall asked.

"I can't confirm anything," Dr. Nichols began. He was about to say something. Something that these teenagers might not want to hear, but instead, he gave them a general statement. "I think we should wait for one of them to wake up and tell us what happened."

Kendall swallowed the lump in his throat. "Wh-when will he wake up?" he asked, his eyes never leaving his hurt friend.

"When Carlos was brought in, he was _very_ weak and," Dr. Nichols responded. "Comas are tricky. We're just going to have to wait and see."

* * *

After eventually being kicked out of Carlos' room, they all made their way to Stephanie's.

Stephanie looked much better than Carlos. Besides the bruising on her body, she looked fine.

"Stephanie?" Mr. King said hopefully when he saw Stephanie's eyes fluttering open.

Everyone froze, anxiously waiting for Stephanie's eyes to open up. Stephanie blinked a few times, her eyes scanning the room.

"Wh-where-" Stephanie asked weakly. She tried sitting up a little bit, but her dad placed his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to lay back down.

"You're in a hospital, sweetheart," Mr. King answered.

Stephanie's eyes darted around the room. As much as she loved the fact that her friends and father were with her, there was one person missing and that scared her to death. "C-Carlos?" she asked. She felt panic building up in her chest. If Carlos didn't make it, she would never forgive herself.

"H-he's here...just in a different room," Amirah answered. She could see the fear in Stephanie's eyes.

Stephanie couldn't hold back the tears that began falling from her eyes. "I-it's all my fault," she said between sobs.

"Stephanie," her father said. "Don't blame yourself for this. It can't be your fault."

"Carlos tried to protect me," Stephanie argued. "He took all the hits because he didn't want them to hurt me! It's my fault."

Camille grabbed her hand. "Wh-what happened, Stephanie?" Camille asked.

Stephanie gave Camille's hand a weak squeeze. Her face paled significantly as the night's events replayed in her mind. She took a deep breath. "Carlos and I were walking to the car. Everything happened so fast..."

_"You've done more than you know," Stephanie replied._

_Carlos stopped walking, causing his girlfriend to stop also. "Carlos? What's wrong?" Stephanie._

_Carlos sighed. But Stephanie noticed that it wasn't a sad sigh. It was more of a nervous sigh. He held both of her hands. "There's something I want to tell you Stephanie," he finally said._

_"What is it, Carlos?" Stephanie's curiosity had been piqued._

_"Well," Carlos began. "I've never said this before...or felt like this before. Stephanie, when I'm around you, it's like I...feel completely different, I guess. Every time I see you, my heart beats faster, I get shaky...It's just a different feeling...but it's a good feeling." Carlos sighed again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...Stephanie, I don't just like you...I love you. I love you with everything I have and I'll always love you."_

_Stephanie smiled. "Carlos, you don't have to tell me that you love me. I already know. And I love you too. And I'll love you forever."_

_Carlos stared into her dark eyes. Completely speechless. He raised his hand to cup her tan cheek. Without warning, he pulled her into a long kiss. When they separated, Carlos cheeks turned a deep shade of red, causing Stephanie to giggle. Carlos gave a shy smile, and grabbed Stephanie's hand, ready to walk her to the car. The night was over, and just as Carlos wanted, it was perfect._

_Almost._

_Their night was interrupted when Stephanie screamed as she was snatched from Carlos' grasp and thrown to the ground._

_"Stephanie!" he yelled when he saw two men holding her down on the ground. A man came from behind and held Carlos, threatening him with a knife, but that didn't scare him. Not one bit. All he could think about was Stephanie needing his help._

_Carlos went ballistic._

_He grabbed the man with the knife by the arm and practically threw him. They watched as the knife fell to the ground. He punched him in the face before charging at the two men with Stephanie. Carlos tackled the two men. He didn't have time to react further before all three men had turned on him. They started attacking Carlos, mercilessly kicking and hitting him._

_Stephanie started yelling at them to back off, grabbing one of the men by the arm, hoping she could pull him away from Carlos. "Leave him alone!" she screamed before the man pushed her away harshly. The man's large hand accidentally smacked her face. Stephanie could only watch helplessly as the men continued to hurt Carlos. She heard them yelling at him, but she couldn't make out what they were saying._

_"Stephanie!" Carlos weakly cried out, his voice laced with pain. "Run! Please!"_

_Stephanie heard Carlos yelling at her, but she couldn't move. She couldn't just leave Carlos by himself. She tried prying the attackers away from Carlos again. When she succeeded in making one of them turn around and face her, she successfully landed a hard punch in the man's stomach._

_He doubled over for a few seconds. Stephanie's eyes darted to the knife on the ground. She practically dove for it, but the man was quick in reacting to that. He grabbed her, throwing her body behind him and getting the knife himself. He crept toward Stephanie, who was now shaking in fear. Stephanie stole a glance at Carlos. "C-Carlos?" she whispered when she noticed that at this point, Carlos was barely holding on._

_Stephanie thought the man would kill her. She thought he would just stab her in the heart and end it there. Instead, he struck her head with the butt of the knife, and watched as her body crumpled to the ground._

Stephanie was crying uncontrollably by the time she finished her story. Stephanie accepted Camille's hug as she began rubbing circles on the tan girl's back. "I-I don't know happened after that," she said to conclude. "What did they do to Carlos after that? Do you know?"

She saw everyone's gaze shift to the floor, making her feel even more uncomfortable. "What happened?" she cried out.

"He was stabbed, Stephanie," Logan finally answered. His voice was sad and soft. "The man that hit you with the knife must have turned around and stabbed Carlos after you passed out."

Stephanie cried even more. "I shoulda done something! I could have helped him..."

"You did all you could," Camille told her. "Carlos is still alive. It's a miracle, but it's true. I'm sure when he wakes up, the first thing he'll ask about is if you're okay."

Carlos' three best friends nodded in agreement. They felt sad about all of this, but they couldn't bring Stephanie down. She needed her spirits lifted just as much as they did.

"And then," James added. "After he finds out that you're okay, he'll ask the doctors when he's allowed to leave, then pout all day when the doctors tell him that he's gonna be here for a long while."

Stephanie let a sad smile creep on her face. That sounded exactly like Carlos.

* * *

**Yeah. This chapter just kinda...ended...sorry :P**

**More of what happened to Stephanie and Carlos will be revealed in the next chapter! XD**

**Did you like this one?**


	7. Chapter 7

**WOO HOO! BTR's song Windows Down, has been playing in my head FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS! XP**

**Sorry for any spelling errors you may encounter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Or when you weight's too tough to lift up, what do you do?" - Goodbye by P.O.S.

* * *

Adrian was sitting patiently in the bullpen at the police department. The blonde brushed a long, stray strand of hair from his eyes when he saw a man with black hair approach him. "Detective Valens," Adrian addressed the man.

"Hello," the detective replied, completely confused. Why was this kid here?

As if Detective Valens had asked that question out loud, Adrian began speaking. "I'm Adrian," he replied nervously. "L-last night, I reported an attack outside the theater and-"

"Oh," Valens said, suddenly remembering that the chief had told him to be expecting someone for that very reason. Valens wanted to face palm, but he pointed to a chair and offered Adrian a seat. "You're here to tell me what you saw?"

Adrian nodded. "I work at the theater where those two people were attacked." Adrian scratched at his hair. "I park my car at the side of the theater instead of the front. Some people do that because there's less traffic and commotion going on so the chances of someone hitting your car is very unlikely," he rambled. "Uh, anyway. I was walking to my car, I heard some people yelling. A few guys, but I heard one girl screaming her lungs out and I began to panic so I hid behind someone's car. When I pulled out my phone, I saw one guy hit the girl on her head with the butt of a knife. She was knocked out and he started laughing."

Valens nodded as he wrote some of Adrian's words down. "The dispatcher said that you thought this was another hate crime. What made you think that?"

"There was a girl there, but also a guy. Hispanic looking, I couldn't really see his face too well. While there was one attacker taunting the girl, two other guys were attacking the Hispanic guy. They called him stuff like 'stupid wetback', 'dumb Mexican', and 'ugly beaner'. They probably said more but I couldn't hear." Adrian sighed. "I don't know what came over me, honestly. But when they knocked out that girl and and started stabbing the poor guy, I came out from behind the car and started yelling at them to back off. I told them I called the police, which was a lie, and that the cops were on their way. They were about to attack, but they looked at me, one called me a traitor, and then they ran off."

_After the men left, Adrian heard the mysterious boy talk...or attempt to talk._

_"St-Stephanie," the stranger croaked out. His voice was laced with pain and he was struggling to keep his eyes open._

_Adrian approached him and got on his knees. He took off his work uniform, which was just a plain vest, and pressed it to the stranger's stab wounds with one hand, hearing moans of pain from the injured boy, and called 911 with the other. He talked to the dispatcher with a panicked voice, and he couldn't stop his entire body from shaking._

_The person's face was severely bruised up. He probably wouldn't be recognizable to anyone._

_"Stephanie," the boy said again while slightly turning his head to Stephanie's prone body._

_Adrian looked to Stephanie's unconscious form, then back to the stranger. "I-is she your girlfriend?" Adrian asked, hoping to engage the boy in conversation so he wouldn't go unconscious._

_The stranger just nodded, not having any strength to do much of anything else._

_"She's very pretty," Adrian replied, stealing a glance at Stephanie to make sure she was okay. When he saw the small rise and fall of_ _Stephanie's chest, he returned his attention back to the bleeding kid._

_"Y-yeah," the stranger replied. He coughed a little. "She is." A small smile grazed the boy's face._

_"You two are gonna be okay," Adrian said. He was pretty sure that he was in shock right now. "Um..so her name's Stephanie, I assume. What's your name?"_

_The boy took a while to respond. His fuzzy mind taking a long time to process all that he was hearing. "C-Carlos," he finally whispered. He slowly turned his head. "Th-they hit her," he finally stated._

_"I-I know. But she'll be okay," Adrian tried to reassure him. "All they did was hit her head. I'm glad I found you two before they did something else."_

_"Me too...Th-thank you," Carlos whispered._

_Carlos' eyes began fluttering closed, but Adrian was quick in catching that and tapped Carlos' face. "Hey! No sleeping yet. Ambulance is close by."_

_"I-it...it hurts," Carlos whimpered._

_"I know," Adrian sympathized. Adrian had never been stabbed before, but seeing Carlos, he could get the idea of what it felt like._

_Carlos moaned. "M-my friends didn't...didn't want me to go out tonight," he said, his words slurring, making Adrian very afraid for Carlos' current condition. "I-I just wanted to celebrate with S-Stephanie."_

_"But she'll remember what you tried to do tonight," Adrian said. "She'll remember that you took her out tonight and loved her."_

_"Sh-she was so happy," Carlos slurred, his eyes barely opened. "I c-couldn't protect her," Carlos slurred again. His voice laced with sadness and literal pain._

_"And she'll be happy when she knows that you're alright," Adrian said. "You have to hold on for her, okay?"_

_Adrian's voice was getting further and further away. "O-okay," Carlos said and nodded. He was completely drained, not being able to_ _keep his eyes open any longer. He moaned in pain before closing his eyes._

_Adrian's eyes widened. "Hey," he said, tapping Carlos' face. "W-wake up! Um...Stephanie! She needs you to be awake! C'mon, wake up!" Adrian slumped his shoulders when he didn't get a response from Carlos. He sighed in relief when he heard sirens in the distance. "Hang on, Carlos. You guys are gonna be fine."_

"Ar-are they okay?" Adrian asked after telling his story.

Valens sighed. "As far as I know, Stephanie's awake. Carlos is still unconscious."

Adrian felt his shoulders slump.

Valens put his hand on Adrian's shoulder. You did good, kid," Valens told Adrian. "You saved those two. They're gonna be just fine. Now...did you see anything about those men that could help us find them?"

Adrian sadly shook his head. "N-no. I'm sorry."

"Think back," Valens commanded nicely. "Go deep into your memory. Did you see anything?"

Adrian inhaled deeply as he dug deep into his mind. His scrunched his eyebrows together as he concentrated deeply. The events of the night before played in his mind, as if it were to taunt him. He sighed in defeat. "I'm really sorry...all I saw was that one of them had blue eyes. I'm really sorry I can't be of more help."

Valens nodded. "It's okay. Every bit of information helps." Valens pulled out a business card. "If you think of anything else, just call, okay?"

Adrian nodded as he accepted the card.

* * *

Stephanie exhaled deeply. She was standing outside Carlos' hospital room.

"Stephanie," Logan addressed her, sensing how nervous she was. "If you can't see him right now-"

"No," Stephanie cut Logan off. She felt her eyes watering up with tears. "I-I have to. I haven't seen him since the attack and I need to be with him."

Logan nodded in understanding. "The guys are inside with Carlos. Do you want us to be with you or do prefer to be alone with him?"

Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat. "I...I need to be alone. Please? Just for a little bit."

Logan put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll get the guys out of there. If you need us, we'll be right out here, okay?"

"Thank you," Stephanie whispered, suddenly unable to find her voice. She waited as Logan entered the hospital room and began talking to his friends. She couldn't hear what he was saying but she could get the sense of it.

Logan walked back out, Kendall and James following him. The two taller boys sent her sympathetic looks.

Stephanie deeply exhaled once again before entering Carlos' room. She stopped dead in her tracks after seeing Carlos on his hospital bed looking completely vulnerable. She took slow steps to find herself at Carlos' bedside. The sad girl took a seat. The first thing she did was grab one of Carlos' hands and hold it tightly.

"C-Carlos," Stephanie croaked out. She didn't know what to say. She just let tears fall from her face.

Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat. "I-I wish you hadn't done that," she said flat out. "I wish you hadn't tried to protect me like you did. M-maybe you wouldn't be this bad if you hadn't." She cupped bruised Carlos' face in her hand. "I know this sounds really selfish, but I'm glad I was unconscious when those guys stabbed you. Seeing them beat you just hurt me so much. I-I wish I coulda done something to help you." Stephanie wiped away a few tears from her face. "I wish last night turned out differently. It was going so well for the both of us." She sighed. She was running out of words to say. "I needed you last night to protect me. But I need you now too. I need you now so that you can make all of us happy like you always do. Please wake up Carlos. Not just for me, but for everybody. Your friends, Mrs. Knight, and Katie. Well...for everyone at the Palm Woods! Can you do that? Please?"

Stephanie waited. And waited. But she didn't get a response. Not Carlos talking. Not Carlos' eyes opening. Not even a twitch. Carlos remained completely still. The only sound in the room, the only sign of life, was the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

She wondered if Carlos heard everything she was saying. She wondered if he was processing everything Stephanie said.

But he couldn't. Stephanie knew he couldn't hear her. Otherwise, he would have woken up after she asked him to. Right? Carlos always did everything Stephanie asked. He would never question or argue, he'd just do it. Because that was his thing. It was his thing to please the people he loved. To make the people he loved happy.

Stephanie started crying harder. Harder than she has in a long time. This is all Carlos' fault. He always wanted to make everyone happy. And for once, he paid for it. He was so intent on making Stephanie's night special that he put his own life in danger. Stephanie remembered asking Carlos not to make her movie award a big deal, but for the first time, he didn't listen to her.

"Darn it, Carlos," Stephanie said between sobs. "Why did you have to do that?"

Stephanie was angry. She was sad. She was confused. Stephanie felt helpless.

If Carlos didn't wake up soon, Stephanie would be headed for a breakdown.

* * *

**Oooookay. How'd ya like this chapter?**


	8. New Agenda

**You guys have no idea how happy I am that I beat my writer's block (kinda) and finally posted a new chapter for this here story!**

**Anyway, here's another chapter that seems all over the place.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Griffin was in his office, staring at the TV that was playing the local news. Nothing really special. A couple of car jackings. A new restaurant opening. Details about Usher coming to town for his next concert.

Carlos' and Stephanie's attack had been four days ago, so that had already been considered as old news.

Nathan knocked on Griffin's door before walking in, and Griffin turned off the TV, knowing that Nathan had something important to say.

"Good morning, Griffin," Nathan said with a smile on his face as he strode into the office.

"Good morning, Nathan," Griffin replied. "You have news for me, I presume?"

Nathan nodded. "It's about Big Time Rush," he answered. "I have somewhere to go after this so I'll make it quick."

Griffin shut off the TV and offered Nathan a seat. "I already know what you're about to say," Griffin said. "BTR needs to finish their CD before the deadline."

Nathan nodded. "And we're not gonna do it if we're all gonna wait around for Carlos," he said. "Look, if these boys don't make their CD before the deadline, our sales plummet."

Griffin nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need Amirah and what's left of Big Time Rush to finish their song," Nathan answered. "They're going to have to keep Carlos out of this one."

* * *

Stephanie woke up hearing two very familiar voices in her living room. She slowly got out of bed and made her way to the hallway.

What confused her at this point was seeing that instead of her parents, it was Camille and Amirah chatting on the couch.

"Guys?" Stephanie asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What's going on?" She found a spot on the couch between her two friends and plopped down.

Camille sent her a friendly smile. "Well, we knew that your Mom and Dad had to work today so we decided to keep you company."

"How come you didn't wake me up?" Stephanie asked after noticing that the time was close to noon.

"Because we figured that this is the most you've probably slept in a while," Amirah answered is if it was the most obvious statement in the world.

Stephanie sighed. "You're right," she finally confessed. "I can't sleep anymore. When I do, I see those men hurting Carlos. I don't need to keep being reminded of what happened that night."

Camille rubbed soothing circles on Stephanie's back. "Did you wanna visit him today?" she asked, already knowing what the answer was.

Stephanie nodded. "He risked his life for me," she breathed out. "And the police still haven't found anything yet."

"They will," Amirah reassured. "They're working their hardest and doing everything they possibly can." She flashed a smile, hoping that would reinforce her statement.

Stephanie couldn't help but doubt Amirah's statement. So far, the cops had interviewed her twice, interviewed Adrian, and surveyed the crime scene.

Yet there was no break through. And Stephanie couldn't help but continue to lose hope.

Stephanie laid her head on Amirah's shoulder. "When's Carlos going to wake up?" she whispered.

"You can never know," Camille answered quickly. "But that's why we needa always be with him as much as we can. Logan says that it isn't proven that comatose people can't hear what's going on around them. If Carlos _is _hearing us say how much we want him back, he'll definitely wake up."

Stephanie slowly stood up. "I needa get ready," she announced. "I see Carlos at the hospital everyday and I'm already late."

* * *

"Camille said that Stephanie slept in today," Logan said after checking his phone. "Poor girl," he muttered in sympathy.

The boys couldn't help but think about Stephanie. The usually vibrant, energetic girl was no longer the same. Her usually cheerful brown eyes lacked life. A smile rarely crossed her face.

But then again, that's how the entire Palm Woods had become after Carlos' attack.

James grabbed Carlos' hand. "You're gonna beat this coma buddy," James whispered before he brought Carlos' hand to his face and kissed it. "For me. For the guys. For Stephanie."

Kendall put a hand on James' shoulder. "He will," Kendall reassured the distressed brunette. "He'll beat it. And the people that did this," Kendall clenched his free hand into a fist. "They'll pay for this. I'll be sure of it."

Logan and James wanted to chuckle at Kendall's statement. They always knew that the blonde thought he could fix everything, and they thought it was funny that even when Kendall was powerless, the still felt like he had all the power.

"I know, Kendall," Logan finally replied.

"I still think what Carlos did was amazing," James said, breaking the silence that had come after Logan had stopped talking. "He's a hero, and when he wakes up," Kendall couldn't help but feel a small amount of joy rise in his heart at the sound of James' optimism. "He's gonna be treated like a hero," James continued. "He deserves it."

"And I couldn't agree more." Kendall smiled before looking to Carlos. It just looked like the small boy was sleeping. "But you gotta wake up first, buddy."

* * *

Katie sighed when she heard a knock at the door. She turned off the TV and went to answer it, hoping it wasn't Bitters here to yell at something her brothers did again.

She swung the door open, a little surprised to see Nathan at the door. "Hey, Nathan," she greeted. "Is everything okay?"

Nathan smiled. "Of course. Can I come in?"

Katie hesitated before nodding.

"I'm here for two reasons," Nathan announced as he took a seat on the couch. "Your mom and the boys. Are any of them here?"

"Kendall, James, and Logan are at the hospital," Katie answered. "My mom just got back from the hospital, so she's taking a shower right now."

"Do you mind if I stay and wait for her?" Nathan asked.

Katie shook her head. "She should be done soon."

Nathan smiled, he was about to ask something when there was a knock at the door once again.

"I'll get that," Katie announced as she made her way to the door to answer it. Katie smiled when she opened the door. "Hey girls," she greeted Camille, Stephanie, and Amirah.

"Hey," Camille responded. She pointed to herself, Stephanie, and Amirah. "We were going to the hospital. Logan said that you weren't able to go to the hospital to see Carlos yesterday."

Katie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I wasn't feeling too well, so the boys stayed home to take care of me. By the time I woke up this morning, they had left. Kendall didn't wanna wake me up."

The truth was, Carlos being in the hospital had gotten to Katie a lot. She wasn't sick because a virus or because she ate something bad. She felt sick because she cried for Carlos for so long that she felt sick and exhausted.

"We were wondering if you wanted to go with us," Stephanie spoke up. "You know, if you're feeling better."

Katie nodded. "Of course I would." She paused. "Um, but first, lemme get my phone and tell my mom where I'm going."

"Okay," Camille responded. "Meet us at my car?" she asked.

Katie nodded. "Okay," she said with a smile. She watched as the girls began to leave before she closed the door. When Katie turned around, she gasped sharply, holding her chest as she felt her heart thumping a little too fast. "Oh my gosh, Nathan," she breathed out to the man who was now standing in front of her. "You scared me."

"Sorry about that," he said as he gave her an apologetic look. "You're going to the hospital to see Carlos?"

Katie nodded, finding that her phone was laying on the dining table. "The girls are taking me. Do you think you can tell Mom where I went?"

Nathan nodded. "Of course," he answered. "You tell those boys I said hello, okay?"

"Okay," Katie responded before heading out the door. "Thanks."

Nathan watched as Katie closed the door behind her as he pulled out his cell phone to make a quick phone call.

* * *

Justin and Susan sighed as they sat in the hospital parking lot.

"So what," Susan said in annoyance. "We're just supposed to sit here and wait?"

Justin sighed. "That Carlos kid tore off my mask," Justin reminded her. "He saw my face and if he wakes up, he'll be able to identify me."

"Matthew's been caught," Susan responded. "What? You think us losing one more idiot like you will be a problem?"

"I'm trying to prevent any idiot from being caught!" Justin argued. He handed Susan a syringe. "You know what to do."

Susan took the needle. "Trust me. Putting poison through a wetback's IV won't be that hard," she said.

Justin smiled. "That's my girl."

* * *

**I hope this chapter was worth the wait...was it? *bites nails***


	9. Working Out

**Wow I'm just updating ALL the stories we forgot about, huh?**

**This chapter's weird...oh and sorry if there are typos...  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Nathan impatiently waited as the phone rang.

_"Hello?" _Justin's voice said over the phone.

"Carlos has company," Nathan warned, already knowing where and what Justin was doing.

"How much?" Justin asked.

"A lot," Nathan answered simply. "Including Kendall and Katie."

"Oh," Justin replied with a mocking tone. "Your little girlfriend's kids." Nathan sighed, and Justin could imagine him rolling his eyes also. "Don't worry," Justin reassured. "Susan knows what she's doing."

"Listen, I don't care if Susan's the one handling it," Nathan replied. "Just make sure-"

A familiar voice from inside the apartment stopped him from continuing. "Nathan," Jennifer said with a smile as she entered the living room.

Nathan smiled back at her, but continued his conversation. "Just make sure...everything's done right. We don't want a repeat of last time, okay? I gotta go." Nathan hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket. "Hi Jennifer."

"Hi...is everything okay?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Nathan replied with a scoff. "Just some people at the record company messing up again." He let out a sigh of relief. "But I think everything will slowly begin to work in my favor." Nathan flashed a huge smile. "I was thinking you and I could have lunch."

* * *

"When we were twelve," Logan began, retelling a story about the four boys to everyone in the room. "Carlos managed to burn down an old building we all used to hang out at."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Really?" Stephanie asked in disbelief.

Logan nodded. "There was an old building we used to hang out in," he explained. "It was really cool because it was abandoned so no one really paid attention to it. So it was a great place for me and the guys to hang out at when we wanted to be alone."

"But Carlos had to ruin that," James said in a joking matter.

"What'd he do?" Camille asked.

Kendall sighed. "Eventually, someone found our hideout," he began. "The city decided that they should start reusing it again, so a lotta work was being done on it, because really, it violated a _lot _of safety codes."

"The workers would spend all day remodeling," James said.

"But we could still go at night," Logan added.

"So at night we'd sneak out," Kendall said. "The builders would leave their tools in the building...and sometimes, we'd play with 'em."

"Then what happened?" Amirah asked.

"One night, we found a blowtorch," Logan answered. "We knew we weren't supposed to mess with it, but we couldn't help ourselves, especially Carlos."

"But he turned it on and dropped it," James continued. "We knew it wasn't a bad thing...until we remembered all the chemicals on the floor..." he trailed off.

"The fire started spreading faster than we expected," Kendall said.

Stephanie's mouth hung open. "You guys were stuck in a burning building?"

The three of them nodded guiltily.

"How'd you get out?" Amirah asked.

"Broken window," Logan answered with a chuckle. "Carlos had one of his helmets that night, thank God, so he used that to break a window and let us out."

"How did your parents react?" Camille asked in shock.

The boys remained silent, so Katie finally spoke up.

"They never found out," she said.

Everyone's attention turned to Katie.

"Then how did you know about it?" Camille asked.

"Mom was working the night shift," Katie said. "Kendall snuck in, smelling like smoke. I was supposed to be asleep, but I waited up for him."

Kendall chuckled. "I begged her not to tell Mom. I even put air fresheners around the house, washed my clothes, took a shower...anything to not let my mom know that I hadn't been at that place."

"Wow," Stephanie said. "You would think that he was on pot."

Everyone broke into a small laugh, completely agreeing with Stephanie's comment.

"St-Stephanie..."

Everyone froze when they heard a weak voice mutter the girl's name. There hearts stopped when they heard it again.

"Carlos!" James cried out in surprise, taking Carlos by the hand. His eyes were still closed, but he was talking, and that should be a really good sign.

Logan, Kendall, and Katie instantly followed James' footsteps, the other girls not too far behind, getting as close to the bed as possible to make sure Carlos knew that he wasn't alone.

Carlos finally opened his eyes when he felt Kendall stroking his hair. "G-guys," Carlos said weakly.

"Hey, buddy," Logan greeted with a smile on his face.

Carlos groaned as a wave of pain hit him. But that's when an important thought hit him. "Stephanie?" he asked, the events of their dates gone wrong still in his head.

James pulled Stephanie closer. "C'mon," he said to her. "Carlos can't see you."

Carlos visibly relaxed when Stephanie came into view. "Hey, Carlos," she whispered, suddenly losing her voice as a tear fell from her eye.

Carlos slowly brought a hand to her face, wiping away the tear with his thumb. "You're okay."

Stephanie nodded. "And so are you?"

Carlos couldn't respond. He squeezed his eyes shut as his body began aching again.

Camille pressed the call button, knowing that Carlos really needed help right now.

Not too long later, a nurse dressed in Winnie the Pooh scrubs walked into the door. The dark haired girl greeted the teenagers before she started to work.

Kendall raised an eyebrow in surprise, shocked to see how fast help had come.

"I know he's in pain right now," she said to them. "This will help him a bit." She sent them a comforting smile before injecting a clear liquid into Carlos' IV.

No one really paid attention to her. All they could focus on was the fact that Carlos had woken up.

And everyone breathed a large sigh of relief.

* * *

Susan and Justin were very patient people. After waiting for thirty minutes after receiving Nathan's call, they continued waiting outside the hospital, coming up with a plan.

"All I need is a wig," Susan announced proudly.

It required them leaving the hospital for a while, in search of a wig that could hide Susan's curly, blonde locks. Finally, they found a cheap party wig that was perfect for her.

Once that was done, they could return to the hospital.

"Don't get caught," Justin warned after Susan had secured her wig on.

She winked at him before exiting the car.

She had two things to do: find a change of clothes, and find Carlos' room.

Neither of those were hard. The nurses' station wasn't hard to find, and once she pick pocketed a poor nurse after pretending to be a distraught older sister looking for her brother, she was able to break into the nurse locker rooms. They were reliable in always having spare scrubs. You never know when a job could get messy.

The next step, finding Carlos. Again, not hard. Jennifer, being the distraught guardian that she was, rattled all of Carlos' info to Nathan, who quickly passed it on to his buddies.

There it was room 310. She slowly let herself in, seeing that Nathan was right. Carlos _did _have quite the crowd with him. But when she looked at Carlos, she was glad that she came in today.

The kid had just woken up.

No one in the room seemed to notice that she was even there, and she liked it that way. That means she could get this done quickly and leave like she was never there.

She pulled the filled syringe from her pocket, bringing it to Carlos' IV, watching as the venomous liquid entered Carlos' veins while giving his friends a source of false hope.

Susan turned to make her leave. She had just left the room when she heard a loud monotonous beep and the sound of seven teenagers screaming Carlos' name.

* * *

**I really gotta stop doing that...**

**So what didja think? Good? Okay? Bad? Absolutely crappy? XP  
**


	10. Good News to Some

**Wow. Okay. I has been SUCH long time since this has been updated. For real. I hope you haven't lost interest in this story. I'm trying to get back into writing it again so chapters will eventually get longer ;)  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

"Even though the moments passed me by I still can't turn away" - Name by Goo Goo Dolls

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"What...happened?" Kendall asked Doctor Nichols in a very threatening manner. Truth be told, he was still scared out of his mind, but he wasn't going to let that show. He just wanted to know how Carlos had basically DIED right in front of them.

Doctor Nichols sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "We've ordered police detail for your friend," he began, earning a series of gasps and looks of horror. "I don't want you all to be scared, but Mr. Garcia was...poisoned."

"P-poisoned?" Logan asked, being the first one able to speak. He swallowed. "Wh-why would anyone...How?" The news had left Logan completely flustered. He had no idea what to say.

But he knew exactly how to feel.

He felt angry, shocked, upset, worried.

And very afraid.

Doctor Nichols really didn't want to continue. This was so hard, but he knew that Carlos' friends needed to know what was going on. "A dangerous amount of potassium chloride was found on Carlos' system-"

"What?" Logan asked before the doctor could continue."

Doctor Nichols looked to Logan, assuming that the smaller boy had no clue what potassium chloride was. "You see, son, potassium chl-"

"I know what potassium chloride is!" Logan replied harshly. Under normal circumstances, Logan would _never _reply to someone, especially an older person, like that. But this was different. His friend almost died, and he felt like the doctor was treating him like he was an idiot. "What we _don't_ know, is how someone could just walk in here and poison him!"

Camille put a hand on Logan's shoulder, giving it a faint squeeze in order to tell the boy to watch his temper.

Logan took a deep breath, calming down and allowing the doctor to continue.

"Luckily, your friend was found on time," the doctor announced. "Any second later and..." he stopped, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Stephanie had barely realized that she let a few tears escape from her eyes.

Katie and Amirah looked at each other in worry.

"Will he be alright?" James finally asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"You have one strong friend there," he began to answer. "He's a fighter. From what we can see, he'll be fine, but your friend is still recovering and isn't out of the woods yet." He started fiddling with his pager.

A few moments later, a nurse walked in. She was Asian, with a beautiful smile on her face.

"This is Lisa," Doctor Nichols announced. "She will be Carlos' nurse, unless you are otherwise notified." After getting a vague description of the other "nurse", Doctor Nichols knew he had to be careful. He wouldn't be surprised if any of the kids in front him had troubles trusting the new nurse.

Stephanie eyed the nurse. Doctor Nichols had already reassured all of them that there was no way that the nurse who had poisoned Carlos worked at the hospital, but Stephanie still couldn't help it. She was worried about Carlos more than anything.

"Can we go back to Carlos' room and be with him?" Kendall asked in a small voice. The past events had begun to take a toll on him, everyone else could tell. But he still tried to be strong, though sometimes, his voice and demeanor gave him away.

Carlos had been moved to a different room as a precaution.

Doctor Nichols nodded in sympathy. "Remember," he warned. "Don't accept any medical help from someone who's not me or Lisa, unless I say so. Okay?"

"Okay," Logan replied, following his friends as they all rushed back to Carlos' room.

They had all walked in at the right time, for Carlos was started to wake up once again, and fear was all over Carlos' face at discovering that he was waking up in an empty room.

"Carlos," Kendall said first, rushing over to the hurt Latino's bedside. "It's alright buddy. You're okay."

"K'ndall," Carlos said sleepily.

Kendall nodded with a smile. "Yeah, buddy. It's me."

"Steph'nie?" Carlos asked, his half-lidded eyes roaming the room. "Is she okay?"

"Of course she is," Kendall replied, reaching behind him to pull her closer. "You talked to her, remember?"

Carlos groaned as he tried to remember, closing his eyes until he felt a soft small hand cup his face. He slowly opened his eyes, a little wider this time, to see Stephanie's sad face.

Carlos smiled. "Stephanie," he said, still weak. "Were you crying?"

Stephanie let a small smile graze her face. She bent down, kissing him before replying. "Not anymore," she answered.

"We'll give you two some time alone," Kendall said, looking to his other friends. He didn't want to leave the room at all, but he also knew that Stephanie needed this moment. The guilt was still eating her alive and Kendall didn't like that.

Everybody else left the room, leaving the two to themselves.

* * *

Jennifer and Nathan were enjoying their lunch, talking and getting to know each other better.

Jennifer was currently talking about her children, hoping Nathan would get to know them more.

Nathan nodded as Jennifer talked about how much help Kendall had been in her life. "You know," Nathan said. "Kendall seems like a nice kid. But honestly, I don't know if it's because he kinda works for me now, he seems a little...cold to me. I don't think he likes me very much."

Jennifer shook her head. She understood where Nathan's concern was coming from. "Oh, Kendall would really love you once he got to know you," she comforted. "He's just very protective of himself and everyone close to him, so he likes keeping his distance from people until he knows them real well."

"So I guess you and him argued a bit when you told your kids about us," Nathan said.

Jennifer nodded. "He just wants to make sure that I don't date an axe murderer," she joked. "It's like sometimes he forgets that I can take care of myself and that it's _me _who should be worried about _him._"

Nathan smiled. "Your kids sound great."

"They are," Jennifer agreed.

"Hey, I have an idea," Nathan said. "Since it seems like I have a lotta convincing to do to make Kendall know that I'm a good guy, why don't I spend the day with him tomorrow?"

Jennifer gave him a look of uncertainty. "I don't know," she confessed. "With Carlos being in the hospital and everything going on, Kendall hasn't been up for doing much."

"Try to get him to go," Nathan said. "I'll make him comfortable. I'll take him to lunch too. Just anyway we can talk together."

Jennifer smiled. "Okay," she said, giving in. "I'll talk to him about it."

"That's all I ask," Nathan replied with a sly smile.

Suddenly, Jennifer's phone started ringing. She checked it. "Oh," she said happily. "What a coincidence," she said after seeing that the caller ID said Kendall.

Nathan watched as Jennifer talked on the phone with her son.

"Hello," Jennifer answered. "Kendall, what's wrong?...What?...Is he...?" She sighed in relief. "Oh good...everything's going to be fine, okay, sweetie? Are you planning on spending the night again?...Okay, I'll drop off more stuff for you in the evening, okay?...I love you too, sweetie. Bye."

What's wrong?" Nathan asked, genuinely carious.

She sighed, looking down. "Poor Carlos," she began. "Something bad happened to him. Kendall and his friends didn't even want to talk about it?"

"Is Carlos okay?" Nathan asked. If the answer was yes, then that meant...

"He's alive," Jennifer replied. "Thank God."

"Yeah..." Nathan replied with darkness in his eyes. "Thank God."

* * *

"Carlos I'm so glad your okay," Stephanie said. "You need to stop scaring me like this. I'll grow grays before I'm twenty with the rate you're going." She flashed a playful smile, hoping to lighten the mood of the situation.

Carlos returned that smile. It made his bruised face look a little better. "I'm glad you're okay," he finally said.

"And I'm extra glad that you're okay, Carlos," Stephanie responded. "I really thought I had lost you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," Carlos apologized, looking away from her.

"Hey," she said, causing him to look at her once again. "You _did _protect me, okay? If you hadn't done what you did, who _knows _where I'd be now. Those guys were intent on killing me and...who knows what else_. _You _saved _me Carlos. I'm okay, see?"

Carlos looked at her, his eyes roving up and down as if he was actually inspecting to see if she was okay.

"Promise me you won't get hurt like this again," Stephanie pleaded.

Carlos slowly nodded, a smile creeping on his face. "As long as you promise that next time, _I _get to choose the movie."

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**So, do you guys wanna see Nathan and Kendall's bonding time or no?**

**I should find a picture for this story -_-  
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**Review? Please?  
**


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